
Liquid-jet photoemission spectroscopy (LJ-PES) directly probes the electronic structure of solutesand solvents. It also emerges as a novel tool to explore chemical structure in aqueous solutions, yetthe scope of the approach has to be examined. Here, we present a pH-dependent liquid-jet photoelectronspectroscopic investigation of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). We combine core-level photoelectronspectroscopy and ab initio calculations, allowing us to site-specifically explore the acid-base chemistryof the biomolecule. For the first time, we demonstrate the capability of the method to simultaneouslyassign two deprotonation sites within the molecule. We show that a large change in chemical shiftappears even for atoms distant several bonds from the chemically modified group. Furthermore, wepresent a highly efficient and accurate computational protocol based on a single structure using themaximum overlap method for modeling core-level photoelectron spectra in aqueous environments.This work poses a broader question: To what extent can LJ-PES complement established structuraltechniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance? Answering this question is highly relevant in viewof the large number of incorrect molecular structures published.
VZ4, redox reactions, liquid microjets, 214 021, VSCHT, 214 024, 214 023
VZ4, redox reactions, liquid microjets, 214 021, VSCHT, 214 024, 214 023
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